Sundown on Wednesday marks the eve of 5775 in the Jewish calendar and the beginning of the Rosh Hashana holiday. While most celebrations lack much of December’s New Year’s Eve flair (no Champagne, and there are yarmulkes instead of party hats), the holidays do share one common tradition: Everyone gathers for a huge meal. If you’re looking to amp up your holiday dinner — or you simply want to enjoy a fall-centric menu — give these classic dishes a spin. You might like them enough to incorporate them into your next New Year’s party. After all, who needs caviar when you have kugel? L’shana tova (aka happy New Year!).

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is upon us, and tradition dictates eating apples dipped in honey to represent a sweet new year. But why limit yourself to apples? And really, why limit yourself to this one holiday to enjoy the sweet stuff?

Honey has been collected and devoured for tens of thousands of years by humans, but bees have been producing honey for millions of years. (Learn a little bit about the bees who make honey.) Honey has many functions: it has been used as a sweetener, medicine and even as an ingredient in early embalming fluid. It is a natural preservative, so it will stay good indefinitely; pots of edible honey have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs!

Bee sure to buy 100 percent pure honey, with pollen listed on the bottle — some products that are sold as honey are really watered-down, high-fructose-corn-syrup-filled Frankenstein versions of the good stuff. Crystallization in your honey indicated that you’ve stumbled across some of the aforementioned, minimally-processed good stuff; if you prefer to drizzle your honey, simply place the container in a pot of water over medium heat on the stove until it all melts down.

Whether you’re celebrating the holiday or the start of the school year, everyone could use a touch of something (or 25 somethings) sweet.

Kelsey Nixon cooks her chicken wings under the broiler to achieve the classic crispy skin in her Honey Hoisin Glazed Wings recipe.

Sesame Honey Candy are super easy and great for a sweet snack. Be sure to use a candy thermometer to keep track of the syrup’s temperature!

Spicy Honey Glazed Peking Style Duck is the perfect meal, if you’re up to the challenge and have room to spare in your fridge. The meat drys out overnight in the fridge coated in a honey glaze. From there everything gets easier. Roast the duck and then serve with caramelized blood oranges and braised turnips.

The Southern classic Honey Butter is a delicious staple; keep some on hand in case of emergency brunch situations. Start with scones and, from there, I personally suggest trying it on everything else. Beware: It’s addictive.